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American Morning
Shoppers Hit Stores for Black Friday; Maryland Town Helps Family Affected by Hurricane; Doctor: No Reason to Fear Bird Flu; Guide to New Movies
Aired November 25, 2005 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Believe it or not, it's kids' day at the stock exchange. So Spongebob had some of his little friends, including somebody who looks like she's 2 years old already at the stock exchange.
CAROL COSTELLO, CO-HOST: You can't start trading too early.
O'BRIEN: That's what I've always said. Get that portfolio together as soon as you can walk.
Let's get some numbers if we can. Scroll that right back down. The Dow Jones starts the day at 10,916. That climbed more than 44 points on Wednesday. And that's a look at the NASDAQ.
Lots of other stories making news, as well, today. Shopping is one of our top stories this morning. This is a look inside Macy's, where things are very busy. They got an early start too. People have been out there for hours, trying to get some deals. Allan Chernoff was telling us they're marking down some shirts for men 75 percent. It's caused a little frenzy among guys this morning, too.
COSTELLO: Yes. It was kind of refreshing to see that, actually, guys fighting over items.
O'BRIEN: Not just women stereotypically fighting over stuff.
COSTELLO: Exactly. So men are becoming as insane as we are.
O'BRIEN: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: Tony Harris has the top stories. He's is in the news room for us this morning.
Hey, Tony. Good morning again.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning, everyone.
Holiday shoppers getting an early jump start today. Many stores have already been open for several hours now. These are some pictures of people arriving at Macy's in New York City early this morning.
But, as Soledad and Carol mentioned, things are pretty chaotic for early birds at Wal-Mart. Look at this. A little dust-up in a Wal-Mart in Orlando, Florida. An apparent scuffle broke out -- no apparent about it -- over a laptop that was on sale. The man was tackled by security. We will have much more on the holiday shopping frenzy.
A milestone in the Middle East. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas attending a small ceremony marking the reopening of a Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. The crossing was shut down in September as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza. The reopening is part of a U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and the Palestinians to allow greater movement to and from Gaza. The crossing officially reopens tomorrow.
The good times will roll again in New Orleans in the lead-up to Mardi Gras. But the Big Easy party will be a bit shorter than before Katrina struck. City officials are scaling down the traditional 12- day celebration, cutting it to eight days. Part of the reason is to save money on police overtime and clean-up costs.
Out of the basting pan and into a big job at Disneyland. One of the turkeys granted a presidential pardon this week was tapped as grand marshal of Disney's Thanksgiving parade. That's Marshmallow, riding a float under a banner reading, "The happiest turkey on earth." Marshmallow and a pal named Yummy -- I'm sorry, Yam -- were flown out to Disneyland after President Bush granted them pardons at the White House.
And French wine makers are up in arms over a new study calling for public health warnings on wine bottles, kind of like the ones on packs of cigarettes. The health ministry says the idea is to help combat alcohol abuse. Another study estimates that seven percent of French people consume alcohol excessively.
Thirty-three minutes now after the hour. Back to Soledad in New York.
O'BRIEN: Actually, thank you -- thanks, Tony. Appreciate it.
HARRIS: All right.
O'BRIEN: We've got some breaking news coming, just in. It's really sad news to report. Carol is going to look at that.
COSTELLO: Yes. This is according to the A.P. Seventy-three- year-old actor Pat Morita has died. You remember Pat Morita. He played on "Karate Kid." He was Mr. Miyagi.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: And he also played on "Happy Days," where he was Arnold. But Pat Morita, 73 years old, dead this morning. We'll have more information to come, but this is according to the Associated Press this morning.
O'BRIEN: That's too bad. More information on that is going to follow. It's black Friday. That's what we've been talking about today. Shoppers across the country hunting for the very best bargains they can find. Let's go right to reporters who are all over the East Coast. They are tracking shoppers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the Washington area. We're going to start in Alexandria, Virginia.
Sarah Lee of our affiliate, WJLA, has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH LEE, WJLA CORRESPONDENT: ... in Washington, D.C., but when we rolled up to this location -- we're in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of the district -- at 4:30 in morning, there were some people that had been standing on line since midnight.
Now the line spans down the block. Several hundred people were on there. It took a full five minutes, actually, once they opened the doors at 5 a.m. for people to get inside.
Now it seems that all those crowds are lined up at the cash register inside this Best Buy. We saw people really bundled up. A guy even brought his blanket with him. So clearly, people are rolling out of bed to ring in the holiday shopping season. Clearly, people seeming to be finishing up that Thanksgiving trifecta, which would be eat, sleep, and then shop.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: A good trifecta, if there ever was one. From the Washington area, let's move up the coast to Philadelphia. Amy Buckman from our affiliate WPVI has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMY BUCKMAN, WPVI CORRESPONDENT: In Philadelphia, the wind chill, it feels like it's in the teens. But that is not stopping shoppers here at the south Philadelphia Wal-Mart. Thousands of them were here before the doors opened up at 5 a.m. this morning. And now, as you can see, they are walking out the doors with all of their purchases.
It's estimated that over the course of this weekend, 130 million consumers will get to stores to do their holiday shopping, and they certainly got an early start here in Philadelphia.
Reporting from Philadelphia, I'm Amy Buckman for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's go from Philadelphia across the state of Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh. Marci Cipriani from our affiliate WTAE has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCI CIPRIANI, WTAE CORRESPONDENT: One of the people that works here tells me there's a lot more people here already this morning than they had at all last year. That probably corresponds with what we've heard, that retailers actually expect a six percent increase in sales this year. And one-third of people actually kick off their holiday shopping during this season.
You can see all of these women here gathered around these boxes. What that is, is that's $3.99 DVDs. That seems to be one of the really popular things here today, despite, of course, a lot of the big electronics. A lot of the things that they had been advertising.
But the way Best Buy handles that, that's kind of interesting. It's to avoid a lot of confusion and a lot of fights and things like that. What they do, is they hand out tickets, only the exact number of tickets for the items they have, such as the laptop that they've been advertising and digital cameras. So if you've got a ticket, you're guaranteed that product. The sale is only until noon today.
Can't guarantee there are any tickets left. You'll have to come out here and check it out for yourself. But there certainly are a lot of people out here. There were probably 100 or more lined up at 4 a.m. this morning.
So people continue to trickle in here. We're just trying to stay a little out of the path and let people get their holiday shopping done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That was Marci Cipriani of our Pittsburgh affiliate, WTAE. And you know, people will run over a pregnant woman to get to the item they want. There is no surprise there.
COSTELLO: Sadly, you're right.
O'BRIEN: Sad, but true.
COSTELLO: Yes. Did you notice how cold those reporters in Philadelphia and Washington looked standing outside?
O'BRIEN: They're cold today.
COSTELLO: I think it was like 20 degrees outside this morning. But let's head to the expert, Jacqui Jeras.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: OK, we'll keep our eye on that. Thank you, Jacqui.
Like so many families along the Gulf Coast, the Gallardos lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. In today's "Extra Effort," we take a look at the small Maryland community that embraced them and made them feel like family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): A good old southern meal: buffalo wings with a little hot sauce and those delicious New Orleans staples.
KERI GALLARDO, HURRICANE VICTIM: Beignets you can sneak. We can use a biscuit.
COSTELLO: Not exactly like Cafe du Monde, but as close to New Orleans as you can get in Maryland. These are the feelings, the members the Gallardos hold onto.
Other memories from that day they'd like to forget: the water rising so quickly in their Ninth Ward home they barely escaped in time.
CHRIS GALLARDO, HURRICANE VICTIM: I was scared to death I thought I killed my whole family. You know, we was expecting two foot of water.
COSTELLO: Eight feet of water poured through their house. They were rescued by boat, dropped off at a shelter, homeless for days. They ended up in Linthicum, Maryland, broke. And her sisters, Tricia and Kim.
KIM HILL, LINTHICUM RESIDENT: It really was a community effort. I mean, it was just who can we call? Anybody we can touch base with. Anybody we got in contact with.
KERI GALLARDO: And no one turned us down.
HILL: No. Everybody was just, like I said, hearts open. Everybody was just wonderful.
COSTELLO: And then, actually, enter most of the people in Linthicum.
KERI GALLARDO: We were just amazed how the community came forth and just took us under their wing and adopted us.
COSTELLO: Linthicum did adopt the Gallardos, from the union workers that found Mr. Gallardo a job, to the union wives who raised funds, to the Linthicum elementary school teachers and parents, who found the Gallardos, and helped subsidize, a house to rent.
PAT MCINTYRE, LINTHICUM ELEMENTARY: It was just an awesome, awesome experience. Everybody involved in it kept saying, "We're walking around, smiling every day," because it was just so wonderful to be able to help this family.
COSTELLO: Others raised money for TVs, clothes and furniture. Eighty-year-old Kelly Gallardo was astounded when she walked into her new bedroom.
KELLY GALLARDO, HURRICANE VICTIM: It was like Christmas Day. So -- and I got a horsey picture on this table. It was over my desk for a little while. And I found it. So, it doesn't say who it's from.
COSTELLO: Doesn't matter, though. This is a community that doesn't want thanks. Just wants to make the hurt go away, especially now.
TRISHA BUSH, LINTHICUM RESIDENT: I think Thanksgiving is going to mean something different this year. I think that it just means more togetherness. There are families scattered throughout this country, and when you think of all of those families that are scattered throughout the country, because of what's happened, it's very -- it's very -- it's emotional.
COSTELLO: It will be hard, despite the help. They're still paying a mortgage on a condemned house and still fighting FEMA for more help.
(on camera) When you sit down to have Thanksgiving and you offer a prayer, what will you say?
KERI GALLARDO: That people don't have to go through this ever again. Man needs to wake up and see that this is a wake-up call. Mother Nature and God are very angry about something. And this is like a wake-up call for us.
There are people out there, helping other people and that's what the world and life is about, helping one another. It takes community to keep a community going.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The people in Linthicum have proven that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The -- there are so many difficulties the Gallardos are facing. But one of the difficulties is Keri was a teacher in Louisiana. She can't teach in Maryland, because she doesn't have a teaching certificate there. So her husband is working. Although, she spends so much time on the phone with FEMA and other organizations, that pretty much is a full-time job for her.
O'BRIEN: Gosh. That's just terrible. And of course, to pay your bills, like your electric bill and your mortgage.
COSTELLO: And your mortgage. And your rent.
O'BRIEN: And to have to rent a place, too. That is very tough. That's a nice story.
Ahead this morning, we're going to be telling you about health officials around the globe gearing up for a bird flu outbreak. Are they scaring people unnecessarily, though? We're going to take a look at that just ahead.
First, though, a message from one of our troops overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. LARRY CHALCRAFT, U.S. ARMY: Happy Thanksgiving to my wife, Isimi (ph) and my two daughters, Ayumi (ph) and Robin, from Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: There are reports that bird flu is threading -- spreading, rather, throughout Asia. Reports of new outbreaks in Vietnam, and Indonesia and in China. And China also confirming a second human death.
So when people are alarmed about bird flu, are they overreacting, or is it a valid concern? Dr. Marc Siegel is the author of "False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear." He's also an internist and associate professor of medicine at NYU, New York University.
Nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us this morning.
DR. MARC SIEGEL, AUTHOR, "FALSE ALARM": Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You know, when you look at the news that we're getting out of Indonesia today, that they're going to actually have the opportunity to make more of the anti-viral drug, Tamiflu, to build up the stock in preparation for the bird flu that everybody's talking about, is that an overreaction, do you think?
SIEGEL: Well, I have a concern that we're sending the wrong message to the public that something is imminent. You see, I think that it is a concern, bird flu. And it's a low-level concern over many years. There's going to be another pandemic. It will occur at some point.
But when we target this virus especially and we say there's going to be a mutation, we're overreacting.
O'BRIEN: Your book talks a lot about the culture of fear. And when you have several people, though, who died in Indonesia, you say -- and you talk about, you know, epidemic and pandemic, it's -- we shouldn't be afraid?
SIEGEL: We should be concerned about this virus, but we shouldn't be afraid. Fear is a second virus here. Fear can do a lot more damage, even, than this virus can if this virus doesn't mutate.
O'BRIEN: How do you mean?
SIEGEL: Let me give you an example. The poultry industry is going to have a tremendous problem from fear. In Great Britain already, poultry consumption was down by at least a third after one parrot got it.
In the United States, a lot of people were afraid of turkey this year for no reason. There's no birds here, even, that have it. And you can't get this virus from casual contact with a bird.
O'BRIEN: You -- the virus right now is mostly in birds, but you don't sound like you're convinced that it's going to mutate then.
SIEGEL: I'm not convinced that this virus is necessarily going to mutate. Nor is anyone else, by the way. The infectious disease experts that you've been talking to and that we've been hearing from are really trying to tell us that there will be a pandemic at some point and that we ought to prepare for it.
But the way that message is conveyed is sometimes telling people the wrong thing, that something is in the offing. We have to learn to communicate as public health people.
O'BRIEN: How do you prepare for pandemic and prepare society for a pandemic without sending everybody into paroxysms of fear?
SIEGEL: Well, it's very difficult to do that. And actually, part of the preparation you do is based on whether you're preparing for panic or whether you're preparing much more reasonably. Let me give you an example of that.
When you go to upgrade your vaccine-making capabilities, using genetic engineering, like the president's plan, $2.7 billion towards that, that's a very good idea.
When you stockpile drugs, Tamiflu or vaccines to an excess, personal stockpiles can actually hurt people, because the drug can cause resistance. We saw a couple of deaths in Japan that may be related to it.
O'BRIEN: But there seems to be sort of a rock in a hard place. Because on one hand, you have people stockpiling because they're concerned of the other problem that we've already seen. There's not enough of the drug.
SIEGEL: Right.
O'BRIEN: It seems almost like a reasonable response, if you have access to the drug, to hang onto as much as you can. Because there's a good chance if the drug is needed, and I get that that's a big if, there's not going to be enough.
SIEGEL: Well, that's a good point, too. And so we have to use a word like "worst case scenarios" so people understand the difference. It's not likely to happen, but if it did happen, you would want this around.
The thing about Tamiflu, though, is it's not actually even been proven to help. And we don't know what doses to use. It's been studied in mice. We don't know if it would work in people. Better to get a vaccine that we could use. But even then, if the bug is changing all the time, we're not sure what kind of vaccine to get.
O'BRIEN: So if a patient comes in to you and says, "I'm really concerned about this bird flu thing. What do I do?", what do you tell them?
SIEGEL: I tell them be concerned about obesity, heart disease, cancer, driving your car, being careful. You know, regular yearly flu kills 36,000 people every year. You should get your regular flu shot.
I say bird flu is something in the offing. It's something that could happen in the distance. Let's not worry about it right now.
O'BRIEN: Dr. Marc Siegel, nice to see you. The book is called "False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear."
A short break. Still ahead, much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Ahead on "AM Pop," the weather is turning colder, but things are about to heat up at the movies. Will a giant gorilla be king of the box office this holiday season? He'll have to fight off plenty of competition to do it. Our holiday movie preview is later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: "King Kong" is just one of a slew of much anticipated movies out this holiday. "Us Weekly" senior editor Bradley Jacobs has a preview of -- preview -- easy for me to say -- preview of all the movies. There's a bunch. There's a bunch I want to see. Let's run right through them.
The first is "Rent." I saw the Broadway show a zillion times, and I loved it. Is the movie any good?
BRADLEY JACOBS, SENIOR EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": The movie is disappointing, I have to say. I love the Broadway show too. Great performances. It's wonderful to hear the music again, but it's not directed with any kind of point of view or flavor at all. It's as if they put the camera down in front of the actors and said, "Go for it."
O'BRIEN: Then there's "Syriana."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a fight to the death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JACOBS: This is a movie that Clooney famously gained 30 pounds for. He plays a CIA agent who's been in the agency for 20 years and who uncovers a lot of dirty business going on in the oil industry. If you like a political thriller this one is going to succeed.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I want to see that one.
"Aeon Flux," "Aeon Flux."
JACOBS: Right.
O'BRIEN: Charlize Theron -- it's actually somebody's name. And she's playing the title role of, like, a futuristic assassin. Isn't she? JACOBS: You've got it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIZE THERON, ACTRESS: Are you one of them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JACOBS: This is based on the '90s series that ran on MTV. She plays an assassin, living in a futuristic world, where most of the globe has this virus, but everyone who's not infected by it lives in this walled-in town. And Charlize plays a renegade assassin who's out to destroy the government that is conspiring against all the people.
O'BRIEN: "Brokeback Mountain." Jake Gyllenhaal's in that, along with who?
JACOBS: Heath Ledger.
O'BRIEN: And Heath Ledger.
JACOBS: This is one of the most controversial movies of the year.
O'BRIEN: Because they're gay?
JACOBS: Because they're gay, basically. It's about two men who are working on a Wyoming ranch in the 1960s who, over one summer, happen to fall in love. But the culture wasn't what it was -- what it is today, and they have to keep their tryst a secret, and they go on and marry women. But over the next 20 years of their lives, they meet occasionally at this mountain.
And it's a very -- it's a very tender story. Just interesting to see if audiences will buy it.
O'BRIEN: "Memoirs of a Geisha".
JACOBS: Directed by Rob Marshall, who did "Chicago." This is, of course, based on the much-loved book from a few years ago. It's about a Japanese peasant in the 1930s who goes into a geisha house, basically, and emerges a high class courtesan, in that world, the most sought after woman, you know, in that whole culture in Japan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight -- tonight's offer for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Finally "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson is going to tackle "King Kong." I saw the other day that that thing is going to be three hours, plus.
JACOBS: Three hours.
O'BRIEN: Over three hours?
JACOBS: Three hours long.
O'BRIEN: For me, like, that's the limit. More than three hours, I'm done. I don't want to see that.
JACOBS: Well, he can't seem to make a movie that's under three hours. It also cost over $200 million to make. They have rebuilt 1930s New York City. You know, Naomi Watts is in it as the actress who sort of tempts King Kong.
O'BRIEN: A modern day Fay Wray.
JACOBS: Yes, yes. And Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, he plays the ape. So you know, we'll see. But this is something that people really can't wait to see.
O'BRIEN: Good buzz or no good buzz?
JACOBS: Good buzz. Good buzz at this point.
O'BRIEN: Three hours. Really? All right. All right.
Bradley Jacobs, always nice to see you. Hopefully, I'm going to get to see a bunch of these on the list this year. That would be nice.
JACOBS: Yes. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Bradley.
COSTELLO: I'm going to force you to go to "King Kong" with me.
O'BRIEN: We're going to go together.
COSTELLO: Yes, we are.
O'BRIEN: Three hours.
COSTELLO: You're going to sit through the whole thing.
O'BRIEN: A movie that's 90 minutes, I love it. A movie three hours, I'm predisposed to hate it.
COSTELLO: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: We can if you want.
COSTELLO: AMERICAN MORNING will be back in a minute. First though, one more holiday message from our troops overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. CORY MILLER, U.S. ARMY: My name is Sergeant Miller. I just want to wish my family happy Thanksgiving. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Historic day today, because "DAYBREAK" as we knew it has passed. But AMERICAN MORNING is now starting one hour earlier, because we are combining "DAYBREAK" and AMERICAN MORNING. We begin at 6 a.m. Eastern Time. That's obviously 3 a.m. on the West Coast.
We're going to be live on Monday in Baghdad. That's when Saddam Hussein's trial resumes. We're going to bring you the very latest on that trial. Plus, we have an exclusive interview with the New Orleans go-to guy, Lieutenant General Russel Honore.
Those are some of the stories that we're working on for Monday, when AMERICAN MORNING comes to you, starting at 6 a.m. Eastern.
COSTELLO: Yes. Betty is standing by at the CNN Center to take you through the next couple of hours.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Hey, I have a question for you. Does that mean I can get one of those "DAYBREAK" coffee mugs before they're all gone?
O'BRIEN: Every CNN employee is going to be angling for those.
COSTELLO: I'm telling you everybody has been e-mailing and wanting a "DAYBREAK" coffee mug from our audience.
NGUYEN: Well, cough them up, Carol.
O'BRIEN: They're going for a little over $2,000 on eBay.
NGUYEN: That's where I'm going to get them at. Really, I wouldn't do that to you.
Thank you, ladies, have a great weekend.
O'BRIEN: You, too.
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